Poptarts
by mormonlover
Summary: Elder Poptarts bonds with an orphan girl during his community service in Uganda.


_**The blood slowly leaked from under his white missionary shirt, soaking it and the hands that were trying to stop the bleeding.**_

The elders of District 9 sat in a circle in the living room, eagerly waiting for their district leader to arrive and brief them on the activities for the day. Once a week, the elders go out into the community and take a break from converting Africans and teaching scripture to do community service. Every week they had a new project.

"What do you think we'll do this week?" Elder Davis eagerly asked.

"I wanna feed the animals again!" Elder Schrader exclaimed. "They were so cute!"

"Maybe we'll be helping those African ladies with their awful hair," Elder Price said with a smirk, running a finger across his perfectly combed brow.

"Not everyone can have perfect hair like you, Elder Price," Elder Church playfully sneered.

"Who cares what we do," Elder "Poptarts" Thomas spoke up. "I just like helping people." Poptarts smiled sheepishly.

The front door opened and Elder McKinley, the district leader, walked in with Nabulungi Hatimbi, one of the villagers, close behind.

"Hey!" Elder Cunningham announced. "Look! It's Nala!" Nabulungi rolled her eyes but smiled nonetheless.

"Good morning, elders," Elder McKinley declared to the room. "Are you ready for your community service assignment for the day?" The elders nodded.

"About a mile away," Nabulungi said, stepping forward, "there is a small orphanage for children that have lost their parents, mainly because of aids or… the general."

"Each pair of companions have been assigned a child," Elder McKinley continued, as Nabulungi went around the room distributing photographs of little children to each elder. "Basically, we're just there to play with them and have fun. So it's kind of like we're their big brothers." A few murmurs of "aww" could be heard around the room.

"So if everyone will follow me," Nabulungi said, "we'll start walking."

"Wow, look at this girl's hair," Elder Price whispered to Elder Cunningham as they stood up. "This girl needs some product or something…"

"Is that all you think about?" Elder Cunningham chided.

"Awww, we have a baby!" Elder Davis practically squealed.

"Dear heavenly father, PLEASE don't let it poop itself," Elder Church moaned.

"Something the matter, Poptarts?" Elder McKinley asked, going over to Elder Poptarts. "How's our kid look?"

"She's… she's adorable," Elder Poptarts said softly, his eyes sparkling as he looked at the photograph.

Elder McKinley smiled and patted Elder Poptarts on the back. "I think you're gonna do great at this, bud."

After walking for some time, the elders finally reached the small hut with a makeshift sign that read "Orphanage" over the door. The elders stepped inside to see several small children running around, with a few small cribs lined up against the wall. An older African woman walked over to the boys.

"Welcome to our orphanage," the woman greeted. "The children are all very excited that you have come to play with them today."

"So why doesn't everyone look at their photographs and find their children?" Nabulungi suggested.

The elders looked at the photos in their hands and searched the room for their assigned children.

"Hey there," Elder Price said, walking over to a little girl sitting in the middle of the room, her hair wild and sticking up in every direction. "You want me to make your hair look reeeeally pretty?" The little girl smiled and eagerly nodded as Kevin pulled a comb from his back pocket.

"Oh my goodness, this must be ours!" Elder Davis beamed as he picked up a small infant from one of the cribs. "Isn't he precious, Elder Church?"

"What's that smell?" Elder Church muttered, glaring at the child.

"Poptarts," Elder McKinley said, "why don't you go find our kid? I have to talk to the owner about some things."

"Sure, Elder." Elder Poptarts scanned the room, looking at his photograph several times for reference. He suddenly spotted a little girl, sitting all alone in the corner, holding her knees close to her. Poptarts smiled and walked over to the girl.

"Hi there," he greeted sweetly. "What's your name?"

The little girl said nothing. She only stared at Poptarts.

"Her name is Ebele," Nabulungi said, walking over. She leaned in close and whispered in Poptarts' ear. "She's been here only for a week. Her parents were killed by the general right in front of her eyes. No one's heard her speak yet." Nabulungi stroked the little girl's cheek and walked away.

"Is that true?" Poptarts said softly to Ebele. "Did you… see your parents die?"

The little girl nodded, tears forming in her eyes. She squeezed her eyes shut tightly, allowing the tears to slowly stream down her face. Poptarts gasped.

"Oh no… I'm sorry… please, please don't cry… what was I thinking?" He situated himself on the ground and pulled the little girl onto his lap, wrapping his arms around her and rocking her gently as she wept. Some of the other elders looked over with concern, but Poptarts simply gestured for them to continue with their work.

"You know, Ebele," Poptarts said, "I know what it's like to lose a family member. I used to have a sister. You remind me a lot of her… she had beautiful blue eyes just like you. She was my best friend in the whole world. We did absolutely everything together. We'd come home after school and watch cartoons after school, and then she'd sneak into my room late at night and we'd tell scary stories to each other. We had lots of fun." He paused and took a shaky breath. "And then one day… we found out that… she was sick. Very sick. And then… one day… she was gone. And I miss her every day like crazy." By now, Ebele had stopped crying.

"But the important thing to remember is that when you die, you go to a place called heaven, and there's a man there… we call him heavenly father. And heaven is just about the best place there is, and the best part is that you get to live there forever and ever. So even though your mommy and daddy aren't here with you anymore, they're up in heaven, and they're looking down on you every day and sending you all of their love… just like my sister." Poptarts reached up and wiped the single tear away from his cheek. "So… feel better?"

Ebele showed a weak smile and nodded at Poptarts. Poptarts cracked a smile as well.

"Hey, I know what'll cheer you up," he said, reaching into his book bag. "Here… have one of these." He pulled out a box of poptarts and unwrapped one. "They're called poptarts. They're just about the best food there is. My friends even call me 'Poptarts' because I love them so much!" Ebele took the pastry in her hand and began nibbling at it. Eventually, she had finished the whole thing.

"JUMMAMOSI!"

Without warning, the front door of the orphanage swung open with a bang, startling everyone in the room. In walked the general, looking around the room at the petrified faces on both the children and the elders. Gotswana, the village doctor, carrying his medical bag, followed him, with the general's two guards close behind.

"You," the old woman who ran the orphanage practically spit at the general. "You have no business here."

"I believe I do," the general sneered. "In my never ending quest to rid all village women of their clitorises, I came up with a BRILLIANT plan. From this day forth, all children will be circumcised… that way we won't bother when they are older."

"Gotswana here will be starting today," the first guard said, jabbing Gotswana in the back with his gun. "Isn't that right?"

"Y-yes… yes it is. I'm sorry, everyone."

The elders looked frantically at each other, not knowing what exactly they should do. The general slowly began to walk to the corner where Poptarts and Ebele were sitting, and looked down at the little girl, who had buried her face into Poptarts' chest, shaking uncontrollably.

"I think we'll start with you," the general said with an evil grin. "Too bad your mommy and daddy aren't here to do anything about it."

"You stop this right now!" Poptarts suddenly snapped, pulling Ebele off his lap and standing up. The guards raised their guns and pointed them at Poptarts.

"Oh really? You think you're going to stop me?" the general smirked.

"It's bad enough that this little girl had to sit by and watch you brutally murder her parents, but now you're gonna put HER through unnecessary pain and torture. What's wrong with you? REALLY. WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH YOU? WHY ARE YOU… A FUCKING ASSHOLE?" The elders in the room gasped at how Poptarts was speaking, mildly impressed by the way he was standing up to the general.

"Hm," the general said. "And… you're gonna do something about it?"

"Y-y-yes," Poptarts choked out, backing down slightly. "I… I'm… I'm not gonna let you do it."

"I beg to differ."

Before Poptarts could speak again, the general drew his knife from its sheath and jammed it into Poptarts stomach. Poptarts made no sound, even as a burning surge of pain ran through his body. Everyone in the room screamed in horror as the general removed the knife and watched as blood seeped through his white missionary shirt. Poptarts managed to lift his hand, pressing it against the wound, trying his hardest to stop the bleeding."

"I grow weary now," the general said, returning to the guards. "Come… let's do this another time." With that, the general and the guards left the hut and disappeared.

"POPTARTS." Elder McKinley ran to Poptarts' side, he too pushed his hand against the wound, but nothing worked. Poptarts' head suddenly began spinning, his eyes rolling back into his head. Suddenly, he fell to the ground with a thud.

"Gotswana! You have to do something!" Nabulungi practically screamed.

Gotswana ran over to Poptarts and scooped him up, running out of the hut. The elders quickly said goodbye to the visible frightened children and ran after Poptarts.

Once they arrived at the hospital, Gotswana revealed that the only way to know for sure if Poptarts would survive was through surgery. As the hours slowly passed, the elders sat in the living room of their headquarters, completely silent.

"Elders," Elder McKinley said, "I think it's only fair that we take a moment to say a prayer to heavenly father so that Poptarts will make a full recovery."

The elders nodded in agreement, closing their eyes and folding their hands.

"Dear heavenly father," Elder McKinley prayed, "please look over Elder Poptarts and help him to survive this and make a full recovery. We would all be eternally grateful. Amen."

"Amen."

"So," Elder McKinley said, cracking a smile smile, "did everyone have fun today with the children?"

"I gave a little girl a new hair-do," Elder Price spoke up. The other elders chuckled.

"I played with allll of the babies!" Elder Davis said. "They were soooo cute!"

"And I got stuck changing the diapers," Elder Church grumbled.

Suddenly, Nabulungi came bursting through the door.

"I talked to Gotswana," she announced. "He said the knife missed all of Poptarts' vital organs, and so he will make a full recovery!" The elders all heaved a huge sigh of relief.

"Thank heavenly father!" Elder McKinley exclaimed. "When can we see him?"

"Tomorrow," Nabulungi said. "He needs his rest."

The following morning, Elder McKinley and Nabulungi arrived at the small hospital. In one room, Poptarts was found fast asleep in his bed, his stomach wrapped in bandages.

"He doesn't look so good," Elder McKinley whispered.

"Gotswana was positive he'd be ok," Nabulungi whispered back. Slowly, Poptarts opened his eyes with a small groan.

"Hey, bud," Elder McKinley said, walking over to the bed. "How are you feeling today?"

"Sore… very sore."

"Gotswana said that'd go away in a few days," Nabulungi said. "We're so glad you're ok, Poptarts."

"What about the children?" Poptarts asked.

"Everyone's fine," Elder McKinley said. "The general left and didn't lay a finger on any of them… and it's all thanks to you."

"You were incredible, Poptarts," Nabulungi said with a smile.

"Thanks, Nabulungi," Poptarts said with a smile. "I don't know what came over me."

"You're such a loving, caring person," Elder McKinley said. "That's why."

"We brought another visitor," Nabulungi said, walking back towards the door. She opened the door and ushered in Ebele, who walked over to Poptarts' bedside.

"Hi, Ebele!" Poptarts warmly greeted.

"Poptarts!" Ebele exclaimed.

Poptarts gasped. "She… SHE… did she just…?"

"She's been saying it all morning," Elder McKinley beamed.


End file.
